The New Blood
by TheRadiantDawn
Summary: Sequel to Primal Instincts. Trapped on a different planet and used as tool for training by the Predators, Sophie Pace thought she knew it all when it came to extraterrestrial life, or even life in general. She was wrong. New players have joined the game, and it is far from over...
1. Clever Creatures

Sophie prowled through the grassy field, surrounded by the forest. Though she knew by now that they were never alone. ' _Always watching, always waiting,'_ Sophie remembered. ' _For the moment to strike.'_

The katana weighed virtually nothing in her hands, it was perfectly balanced. She had been training with it for so long that it felt like an extension of her body. _'You cannot drop a part of your body,'_ Guan'thwei had clicked to her in his native language, something she had been trying so desperately to learn. Sophie had retorted _, 'You can if they cut it off.'_. That made Guan'thwei cackle with amusement, but acknowledged that it was true.

Sophie had been told numerous times that she could not fight one-on-one with Guan'thwei's kind. He was right. They could squash her like a bug. But, it wasn't like Sophie had any choice. There was no way in hell that she wasn't going to be attacked by a Predator considering they were living on their hunting ground. Originally a young high school girl with no concept of combat made living on the Preserve even more challenging. The protectiveness that Royce and Isabelle displayed got on her nerves though. She wasn't as young as she used to be. Sophie was certain they had been on this planet for years.

That was why Sophie appreciated that they were allowing her to come to this attack. No more hunting mutts, no more learning survival skills, and no more holding back. It was seldom that they let her participate in fights against the Bad Bloods. Granted, it wasn't like Sophie could ask for permission. The Bad Bloods usually just attacked without warning. As much as she wished for a free pass from all this violence and savagery, that simply wasn't the way of the world Sophie lived in.

Sophie jolted when she heard the loud slushing noise of Jack walking lazily through the grass with his cowboy boots. He had only been on the Game Preserve for a week or so. Apparently, this redneck was good with a rifle and involved with gang violence, hence why he was chosen by the Bad Bloods. They weren't worthy of being prey in Sophie's eyes because his kind always died. She was used to seeing

"Is tha' thang here yet?" he asked aloud in his Southern drawl.

She immediately grabbed the middle-aged man and tossed him to the ground. Sophie sprung at him like a monkey, slinging out Stans' shiv and holding it to his jugular. His brown eyes were wide as he held his calloused hands up in surrender. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down, jungle girl!" Jack stammered, breaking out in a nervous sweat. "I mean no 'arm, I was jus' tryin' ta—"

"—Shut—the— _fuck up!"_ she spat in his face, enraged by how careless he was about making noise. This Sophie may have been young, but Jack Dunbar didn't like the murderous look on her face. There was something absolutely dark about her. He thought of her as some jungle goddess by the way she dressed and acted. A huntress, in other words. Seeing her in action, Jack didn't doubt it. "You mean us harm when you don't shut your blabbering redneck mouth! You might as well wave a flag reading 'here we are, come and kill us please'!" Sophie snapped, throwing Jack hard into to the ground. "Now shut up and shoot, and we might just make it out of here alive, cowboy."

"—Hey, don't ya tell me what t' do, ya fuckin' sissy twat!" Jack snorted, brushing the dirt of his jean jacket and picking up his machine gun. He spat the last of the chewing tobacco he had left from his mouth. As much as he wanted to shoot the bitch, this Sophie Pace was fiercer than he had previously thought. Although Jack did like the way she was dressed, almost like she was a huntress. The leather dress gave him a nice view of her tits and legs. This Sophie was with the other two survivors who had been helping him. Jack nearly shit his pants when he saw the 'Predator' as Sophie called him. He tried to stay as far away from the hideous creature as he could. When Jack tried to make a friendly conversation with the Predator, the creature slung out his wrist blades and trapped his neck against a tree with them, only centimeters away from slicing his throat.

Sophie couldn't stand these people, Isabelle was really trying her patience by trying to accept every person (criminal) that was stranded on this planet for the game. Royce didn't like it, Guan'thwei didn't like it, and Sophie sure as hell didn't like it. Sophie had no qualms about the other stranded humans so long as they didn't mean any harm. But there was no way of knowing that, especially after how untrustworthy Edwin and Noland turned out to be. Who knew what kind of issues these foreigners had. Whenever they teamed up with other people, they would always die to the Bad Bloods. Royce, Isabelle and Sophie were the only three to have survived this long. Jack Dunbar was a redneck who was good with a shot, along with a bald guy nicknamed "Lucifer"; a former demolitions expert in the Navy SEAL, and Terrence; a violate drug dealer, were among the latest unfortunate souls to have wound up on the Game Preserve.

Jack was mumbling to himself while checking the amount of ammunition in his gun. "Knew ah should've been a mailman. Blame ya, mother—"

Sophie saw a purple light from the corner of her eye and immediately dropped flat onto her stomach. There was a loud blasting noise as Jack's head exploded from an energy surge. Blood and brain splattered all over the ground right in front of Sophie. Jack's decapitated body slumping over into the grass. The sight of blood and gore was an everyday thing and no longer bothered her.

Sophie heard the shushing noise of grass being walked through. Her head jerked to the direction it came from, only a few yards away from the trees. It took no effort to drown out the noisy jungle, her attention focused on the greenery around her, where her pursuers where no doubt hiding. Royce, Isabelle, and Guan'thwei had trained her for this. That was when she could smell it. The scent of blood. Her eyes dilated as she spotted the iridescent outline of a large creature. Its figure was invisible, but detectable now that it was out in the open. It took great focus to be able to spot a Predator with its cloak on. She could spot the luminescent hue around its edges. A bad move on the Bad Blood's part.

"Found it!" Sophie shouted into her radio, before ducking behind a large rock, not wanting to take any chances of it blowing her apart. There was a purple light and a small explosion from where she had once stood. Her senses were right, as usual. _"Sophie, get out of there!"_ Royce's voice yelled into her earplug.

 _"We're on our way!"_ Isabelle added through the radio.

A barrage of purple blasts was flying all around her. Sophie had no choice but to run through the trees as she heard the Bad Blood thumping behind her. She knew she couldn't outrun this thing, certainly not fight it head on. Sophie jumped down a small grassy slope covered in leaves, swinging out Stans' shiv and slicing the vines tied around a couple of trees. But, that didn't mean that they couldn't fight back.

A massive tree trunk, suspended by more vines, swung towards the Bad Blood. It slammed into the creature, knocking it against a mossy trunk. The invisibility cloak surrounding the Bad Blood began to malfunction before promptly shutting off from the damage. Sophie was certain that she knocked the wind out of the Bad Blood. ' _They can be killed,'_ she reminded herself. _'Only because it's not experienced like I am.'_

The Bad Blood aimed its Wrist Gauntlet at Sophie, causing her to bolt for the trees for cover before it could hit her. The Bad Blood fired a single-shot and Sophie heard the slice before feeling it. Then, she saw the blood splatter to her side. _Her own blood._ The energy bolt had grazed through the side of her left shoulder. Sophie let out a grunt in agony, clutching her wound. It was the sting that hurt the most from these weapons. The only good thing about the energy projectile weaponry of the Predators was that it cauterized the wounds. A couple of more shots were fired at her, hitting the trunk she was hiding behind. Sophie grimaced, ignoring the searing pain in the side of her shoulder and severing another couple of traps.

"This is my jungle, _bitch!"_ Sophie hollered, immediately fleeing the scene.

Three makeshift spears spun toward the Bad Blood from seemingly every direction, pincushioning the earth. For the most part, the Bad Blood rolled out of the way, only barely. It dodged one, only to trigger the next trap—a branch adorned with carved spikes—getting stabbed in its scaled legs.

Sophie could hear the loud animalistic scream of agony—only to be abruptly silenced. She briefly stopped running upon the quietness. ' _Those traps couldn't have killed him,'_ Sophie thought.

None of them were really meant to kill any of the Bad Bloods. The traps could only immobilize them at best, _then_ they would go in for the kill while they couldn't move. Guan'thwei had taught her that from what they learned from Dutch Shaeffer, one of the few humans who was strong and cunning enough to kill one of his kind. The traps as well as Guan'thwei's knowledge of his species always made it difficult for the Bad Bloods to attack. The jungle was constantly booby trapped and the Bad Bloods were outwitted.

Sophie ran like the wind, careful to avoid any traps without triggering them. Royce wanted her to go through the traps otherwise the Bad Bloods would just follow her to safety. They made a couple of spots where Sophie could run or jump to without springing them.

Sophie could hear each powerful _thud_ of the Bad Blood behind her. Right behind her. She was knocked to the ground by a balled-up fist. Quickly, Sophie leapt to her bare feet and up at the Bad Blood with Hanzo's katana drawn.

This Bad Blood was a different one, she could tell by the different set of wrist blades that were covered in glowing green blood. Sophie realized that it wasn't the trap that killed the first Bad Blood, it was this one. He killed a member of his own pack for being outwitted and wounded by a human child-bearer.

Two more Bad Bloods emerged from the brush fully cloaked. They conversed through the clicking noises, which Sophie understood from Guan'thwei. She didn't have the mandibles necessarily to properly speak the language, but it sure as hell required a lot of phlegm.

 _"Tu raka!"_ Sophie spat at them.

There was a moment of silence from the Bad Bloods before they deactivated their cloaks. They began conversing with their leader. Sophie listened, they were amused by how the _ooman_ basically asked for a surrender in their language.

 _"Guan'thwei must have taught her, how else would a human child-bearer survive this long?"_

 _"The human child-bearer dares to use our tongue…"_

While it was terrifying being surrounded by three Yautja, Sophie was intrigued by what they were saying. She understood it after all that time spent with Guan'thwei.

These four new Bad Bloods had been hunting them for months. There were other Bad Bloods that had come to the Game Preserve before, but they were nothing compared to the prowess of Guan'thwei, an experienced hunter. They would all die to them, mostly because of Guan'thwei. At times, Sophie felt that the only one getting stronger was the Predator.

The Bad Bloods weren't the only ones who got stronger on this planet.

Out of nowhere, Guan'thwei sprung from the bushes and drove his wrist blades into the throat of one of the Youngblood Bad Bloods. The young pup could only gargle on its own blood as it died. Guan'thwei then spun around and spun around with both wrist blades cutting through the other two. These Youngblood Bad Bloods were nothing compared to the might of a Blooded warrior. It happened so fast that Sophie barely had time to react. As mesmerizing as it was to watch Guan'thwei take on all three of them so effortlessly, Sophie got up and ran. _'Lord knows it would be even more difficult without Guan.'_

The leader hissed at the other two surviving Youngbloods to go after the humans. They were no match for a Blooded warrior like he was, and he wanted to be the one to personally take Guan'thwei down.

The leader drew his own wrist blades, clashing against Guan'thwei's own. _"I can't believe you killed Kvar'thwei,"_ he scoffed in their language. _"Your honor breathes weakness!"_

Guan'thwei shoved him back. _"I didn't kill him,"_ he sneered. _"The ooman lou-dte kale did, he was pathetically weak. You and your cjit brethren are no different. This planet will be your u'sl-kwe just like his is now."_

The leader let out a monstrous war before the two resumed their fight by ramming into each other, trying to overwhelm the other with their body weight. Guan'thwei managed to stick his wristblades into the Bad Blood's leader's forearms, causing him to hiss with pain.

This was going to be fun.

Sophie dropped from the tall branches, sprinting past the swampy soil at her bare feet. Bolts of purple were being fired at her way, just barely missing her and drawing closer. One such bolt hit a large tree trunk, cracking it right in half and knocking it over against the steep hill.

Sophie jumped off a mossy ledge and landed in some mud. She stood still behind a tree, feeling the cool and strange sensation of mud filling in between her toes. Sophie knew that the tree provided little cover and that the Bad Bloods knew exactly where she was. She waited for more blasts from the unblooded Bad Bloods plasma cannon, but found none. Her ears were tuned in to the jungle surrounding her, making sure that Bad Bloods weren't trying to creep from behind.

There was a large thumping noise from a few yards away from her and the Bad Blood uncloaked himself. Sophie couldn't help but smirk. _'Just a little closer,'_ she thought.

With one more step, the Bad Blood stepped on the lever—and the last thing Sophie saw was the powerful fiery explosion engulf that Bad Blood. She covered her face as debris went flying everywhere and the ground shook beneath her. Sophie fell backwards onto the jungle ground from the blast. Her ears were suddenly ringing and throbbing painfully. _'Maybe I should've stepped back a little more.'_ Sophie wiped her dirtied brow, watching as the smoke began to clear. _'Clueless Bad Bloods.'_

There was a loud shot that rang through the jungle and the loud squeal of a Yautja. Sophie turned around to see a cloaked Bad Blood standing behind her. She could see the blood from the gunshot wound dripping onto the ground. Sophie quickly got up and bolted through the trees, looking at each one. She was frantically wondering where the fuck Royce was.

Sophie was suddenly pinned to a tree by the powerful claws of the same Yautja. He dug his talons into the back of her neck before throwing her to the ground. _"C'jit ooman!"_ the Bad Blood growled through his mask.

 _"Tarei hsan!"_ Sophie spat back. This enraged the Bad Blood more, having a ooman lou-de kale dare speak his tongue. He would have Guan'thwei's head for this and make sure he fucked the ooman bloody for that.

A pair of eyes opened from behind Guan'thwei, before peeling itself from the muddy tree trunk it was blended in to. A pair of wristblades pierced through the chest of the Bad Blood. It let out a pain-filled roar before attempting to turn around to kill his attacker. But, Sophie was one step ahead of him, she drew Hanzo's blade and pierced the Bad Blood through the heart. Just as quickly, Sophie withdrew it and stepped back. The Bad Blood still had enough strength in himself to kill her as it died. It let out a grunt as blood dripped from the chin of its mask. The scaled monster fell to its knees before collapsing on the ground before her with a huge thump. Sophie was breathing intensely and her heart beating a million miles a minute. She lowered the katana and felt herself calming.

"Took ya long enough." sighed Royce.

Sophie looked up to see the mud-covered Royce step forward, wiping the green blood from his machete on his tattered pants. He had disguised himself with mud against one of the trees. Sophie could spot him out easily, but that the Yautja could not, even with their masks usually on heat vision. Their eye sight was one of their greatest weaknesses.

Sophie knelt down to strip the Bad Blood of its technology. She retracted the two jagged wristblades before removing the Wrist Gauntlet. It was the most prized possession of a Yautja and its loss was often met with severe punishment. If a Yautja was ever in a situation where it knew death was inevitable, it would activate the self-destruct mode on the device, destroying the Yautja's body and technology. But they had killed the Bad Blood before it could. Sophie reckoned that Guan'thwei would want this technology back.

"Nice job on the explosion, Izzy," Sophie said into the radio.

"Thank you," her voice replied. "Where's Guan'thwei?"

There was a loud howl of pain from inside the forest, enough to make the birds fly away. The sound of a Yautja dying. Sophie was relieved as it didn't sound like Guan'thwei's voice, despite how similar the Yautja sounded. She spent enough time with the Predator to know this. Royce ran into the forest to check on Guan'thwei while Sophie gathered the equipment of the dead Bad Blood. She shoved the Wrist Gauntlet into a bad, before a loud animalistic growl came from behind her. It sounded like a lion's roar and Sophie immediately recognized it as an anju, a feline creature that had six eyes, two sets of needle-thin sharp teeth and quills covering its body. Sophie slowly reached for her katana as the anju prowled closer, crouching in preparation to launch itself at her. If that anju landed on her, Sophie knew that she was done for. The teeth, the talons, the quils….so many sharp objects on a cat creature.

Before the anju could lunge for Sophie, a pair of Wrist Gauntlets slammed itself into the spine of the cat, pinning it to the ground. The anju let out one last howl in agony before dying. Guan'thwei uncloaked himself and swiftly withdrew his wristblades. Sophie would've told the Yautja 'thank you' if such words existed in their language. Instead, they said nothing, with Sophie only handing him what she had scavenged the Bad Bloods. The Elders would be pleased with him for returning such valuable technology. "Are we going home?" Sophie spat in Yautja, her voice a hiss whenever she spoke his tongue.

Guan'thwei looked to her with his silver mask that was scarred. He held the decapitated head of the leader of the Bad Bloods in his other hand. Sophie let out a sigh of relief and collapsed to her knees.

They were going home.

* * *

 **Author's Note: I am super super super super super super super super super sorry for not uploading this in April like I promised. I had even made an announcement at the time. But as soon as I did...all 7 chapters that I had completed got fucked up by Microsoft Word. The text just went invisible or something. It does that shit to me sometimes. I was so FUCKING pissed and not at all in the mood to rewrite what I had written. I was also in college at the time and didn't have enough time to write it. I'm still in college so I'll try my best to update this as fast as possible. I might be able to upload the next chapter today or the next two days. Depends. I'll try not to make promises I can't keep. Anyways, hope you enjoyed. Sorry its kinda a quick chapter, the story really starts when they go home.**


	2. Onward

Sophie fumbled with the shiv that once belonged to Walter Stans. He had dropped it while they had fled from the plasmacasters of Predators all those years ago. She had no respect for the criminal until he attacked Kvar'thwei with just that crude butter knife, sacrificing himself for the others to survive. Hanzo had done the same for them with his katana, fighting the other Predator in a one-on-one duel. Now that their time on the Game Preserve was at an end, Sophie decided to return the weapons she borrowed from Stans and Hanzo. They deserved to keep the weapons that they died fighting with.

Sophie drew the katana from its sheath with a long and distinct _shing!_ nise. She stabbed the sharp blade deep into the ground where Hanzo was buried below. "Thanks for letting me use these, as much as I'd like to take them with me, they're yours." Sophie said to the graves. She walked over to Stans' grave and placed the shiv on top of the small pile of rocks. "Sorry that I'm being so sentimental, you'd probably whine and bitch about me being an emotional female, but I can't help it. You deserve our thanks. We're going home while this planet will be your final resting place. No one will visit you after we leave."

She placed Nikolai's dog tags on top of his grave stones, before stepping back. His wife and two sons would never know what happened to their father. Sophie wished that they could know, they deserved to know that he died a hero's death. The only response she got was the cool breeze that moved swiftly through the tall grass. Taking one last look at her three friends, Sophie left the clearing and headed towards the ship of the Bad Bloods.

While stepping over a bush—she almost stepped onto a liter of anju cubs. Sophie stepped back, but wasn't startled by it. She looked at them with wonder as Sophie had never seen an anju cub before. Sophie realized that the anju that Guan'thwei killed earlier must've been their mother. The cubs would die without her. One cub let out a wide yawn, showcasing all of its pointed teeth. They were just kittens, yet they were the size of an adult cat. Sophie couldn't help but feel sorry for them as now they were going to die without their mother. A bright orange cub approached her, rubbing its head of quils against her leg. Perhaps they were a lot like the felines from her homeworld more than she realized.

 _"Sophie!"_ Isabelle hollered.

Sophie looked up and yelled back. "Coming!"

After making a possible the stupidest choice of her life, Sophie picked up her now heavy backpack and ran through the forest. Guan'thwei stood outside of the ship waiting for her while Sophie walked towards him. She looked around the thick and dense forest for a moment. In a strange way, Sophie felt a twinge of homesickness already. A part of her didn't want to leave the place. She didn't understand why she felt this way.

 _"Coming?"_ Guan'thwei interrupted her thoughts. _"Don't tell me that you want to stay?"_

 _"It's nothing,"_ Sophie said back, keeping it cool. She strode past him into the darkness of the ship.

* * *

Guan'thwei knew that it was more than just nothing. _Lou-dte kale_ , particularly _oomans_ , were always immersed in their emotions. They were so keen on bonding with everyone yet being ravenous killing creatures. He had seen it in his own species as well. Though the females of his species could easily kick the _cjit_ out of a male. Although emotional, the _ooman lou-dte kale_ did prove herself to be useful on numerous occasions and was capable of fighting. It was too bad she was born a human, and not an Predators. She could've had so much potential. Now, it was being wasted on returning to their hunting ground. He recognized the longful look in her eyes. The ooman female _enjoyed_ killing as much as he did. If only she could come with…

No.

Now, he was the one being emotional. He let out a growl from his mask, causing Sophie to look at him with confusion. He would drop the silly pyode ameda off on their pathetic home world and be done with it. Guan'thwei had learned so much from the Game Preserve, as did Sophie and those two other oomans. But he had been on that world for far too long and the ooman female's influence was dulling his senses. Guan'thwei desired to leave and hunt other species from other worlds.

After taking a step into the ship, Sophie stopped momentarily. Guan'thwei clicked at her to go in, he was going to shove her in a moment if she didn't get moving. The brunette turned to him apologetically, before walking inside. "Sorry, the last time I was on a ship like this, I was being kidnapped." Sophie responded to the impatient creature. "Didn't exactly get the chance to look at it."

Guan'thwei pushed past her to the control room. "Look at it then, just stay out of my way," he spat with a clicking of his mandibles. He was glad to finally get off this cjit of a planet.

Sophie slowly continued down the hall, a faint glow of light now visible from ahead. She noticed that the passageway was beginning to curve outward into a gentle arc. Another thing she noticed was just how hot and humid it was inside the ship. Sophie was used to the rain and cold of Washington state, the summers were always rough for her even though they were 80 to 90-degree weather. This felt more like a sauna.

As she walked closer to the light, she saw that her feet were obscured in a blue-green gas, swirling higher as she descended. The walls were carved and the designs reminded her of the Aztecs for some reason. Maybe the Predators had a part in the start of their civilization? Considering they had used Earth as a hunting ground for centuries.

She reached the end of the passageway and descended into a large room, the convergence of other tunnels. The otherworldly harmonic whine of the ship's drives caused immense shaking. Sophie was certain the ship was powering up. Sophie maintained her balance while she felt the ship lift off the ground. To her surprise, the shaking stopped and it felt as though the ship was grounded. Sophie wondered if they had some sort of gravity device. She missed watching Star Trek and Star Wars.

She was one of the few humans to be on a _Jag'd'dja atoll_ and live to tell the tale.

* * *

Sophie guessed that Guan'thwei just left her to wander the ships halls while taking them into space. He didn't want to pay much mind to her on the journey to Earth. She attempted to open one of the doors to no avail. Sophie wondered if Guan'thwei had locked all of them.

There was only one room that had open doors. Venturing inside, Sophie found numerous skulls mounted on the carved walls of the room. Sophie knew she was in the trophy cabinet, where the Predators put the skulls of their kills. The decapitated of the Bad Bloods' leader was sitting on a pike next to what Sophie assumed were tools for ridding the skull of its flesh and hair. Curious, Sophie examined all of the skulls that the Bad Bloods' leader had collected over the years. Of course, there were human skulls. There were also skulls belonging to other Predators, an anju skull, a zabin skull (a type of mantis-like insect), and a baguhl skull (a Hell-Hound). The other skulls were unrecognizable to Sophie, most likely collected from other planets. But there was one skull that peaked her interested in way that the other ones didn't. There was a skull mounted on a different side of the room, which had a large, curved, oblong head with an inner and outer mouth. Sophie wondered what type of fearsome creature it was and what it really looked like. Judging from how scary it looked from its skull, Sophie in a way, didn't want to know.

"Kiande amedha," Guan'thwei said from behind her. She hadn't heard him come into the room. If Sophie had kept her guard up instead of being mesmerized by the skull, she probably could have. Guan'thwei was pleased to see that the ooman wasn't startled or didn't let out a screech like she did early on when they first met. That annoyed the _pauk_ out of him.

Instead, Sophie merely acknowledged him with a stare. "Hard _meat?"_ Sophie translated into English, looking back at the skull. "That's the opposite what your kind calls us," she snickered once. "Soft meat."

Guan'thwei clicked his mandibles together in regard. He wanted to take his mask off as it was no longer necessary since he was back on the ship, but he didn't want any of the oomans to see his face. When Guan'thwei didn't answer her, Sophie spoke again. "Where's Royce and Isabelle?" she asked.

The Predators motioned for her to follow him, which she did. Before walking out of the room, she shot one last glance at the strange skull. There was so much out there in this universe and Sophie was partially glad that she wouldn't need to see anymore of this crap.

* * *

Guan'thwei led her down the humid hall with swirling patterns decorating it. He came to a stop and the wall opened, revealing Royce and Isabelle to be inside a small room. Sophie could feel the cool air of the room brush against her. She was relieved as Sophie couldn't stand the intense heat of the ship, but that was the norm for a Predator. The brunette was also surprised that the Predator had even considered this for them.

There was a loud ripping noise as Sophie's backpack was ripped apart by the anju cub she had taken from the planet. The cub pounced onto the floor and sniffed its strange surroundings, before looking up at the Predator above him. Everyone was silent as they looked to Sophie, whom had a guilty look on her face.

"Really, Soph?" Royce asked.

"You just couldn't resist, could you?" Isabelle sighed.

Then, Sophie got angry. "Oh, shut the fuck up, it's an exotic animal from another planet, who wouldn't try?"

The Predator picked up the anju club, holding its entire body with a single hand. It was the size of an adult cat. The feline attempted to bite and claw Guan'thwei before its neck got pinched. The anju cub let out a loud yelp and stopped. The quills all over its body stood upright.

"Mine now," he grumbled in a deep, raspy voice. "Thanks."

Guan'thwei roughly pet the creature with his large, reptile hands. Despite how rough it was, the anju cub seemed to enjoy it from the wide smile it had. The creature almost had a Glasgow-like smile.

Sophie let out a groan of defeat before stepping into the room. Caught red-handed and had lost her only souvenir from the planet. The door immediately slid shut. She looked around the small room. It was relatively empty room, aside from themselves, there was a large platform in the back of the wall with a couple of furs on it. Sophie assumed that was a bed. She grabbed one of the furs off of the bed and sat against the wall beside Royce and Isabelle.

Royce stretched his muscled arms out. "First thing I'm gonna do when I get back to Earth is take a shower."

Isabelle scratched the underside of Royce's dark beard with a smirk. "You need a shave, Santa Claus." She joked. He grabbed her hand and held it in a loving manner. They both smiled at each other. Sophie let out a long sigh. "Hopefully I can get away from you two shooting each other oogly eyes."

"Says you," Royce snorted.

Sophie narrowed her blue eyes. "Says me? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"You and your fuck buddy, _Guan,"_ Royce taunted with a glimmering grin on his face. Sophie shook her head in disbelief. He was always rattling her chains over this just to upset her. Isabelle let out a sigh, just as annoyed as Sophie was with Royce's immature behavior.

"I was never that desperate," Sophie retorted with a smile.

"So, you two never…?"

"No, Royce!" Sophie exploded into anger. _"What the fuck is wrong with you and your sick mind?!"_

That only made Royce burst out laughing as he slid down in the fur blanket. Isabelle gave Sophie a sympathetic look on her face. "He's Royce, you don't want to know what shit they'll conjure up." She told her, smacking Royce on his side.

* * *

Guan'thwei was highly amused by the conversation while he sat in the pilot's chair of the ship, listening in on the silly _oomans_. He did it out of boredom rather than a curiosity on their weak philosophies. Hearing what Royce had to say only confirmed it. The only thing oomans only ever thought about was the pleasurable aspect of procreation, especially the male ones. No wonder their streets were littered more than their kind. It would take years for his kind to wipe them out since there were so many of the paukers.

At least his species could contain themselves. Normally, Guan'thwei would've slaughtered anyone who even suggested that he copulate with a _ooman_ female. Some considered it distasteful to lay an ooman female. It was an 'easy kill' as the _ooman_ female was completely powerless to the might of his kind. Even the males of their same species could easily dominate a woman, being more physically built than their counterpart. Guan'thwei's eyes were on Sophie as she scolded Royce.

Well, at least _some_ of them.

After a couple of hours of resting, the door slid open and Guan'thwei entered, still wearing his mask. Sophie hadn't seen him without his mask since killing his older brother on the Game Preserve all those years ago. She wanted to see his real face one last time before returning to her home world.

Guan'thwei held out a plate with an unidentifiable, large piece of meat. At first, Sophie thought it had been burnt since the meat was black in color. But realized that it was in fact _raw_ due to the blood pooled onto the plate. It also had a very unpleasant smell that almost made Sophie dry heave. She looked to see that Royce and Isabelle weren't particularly pleased with the food Guan'thwei had given them. Sophie could've sworn she saw the meat twitch, as it if were still alive.

Sophie knew Guan'thwei could sense her disgust from their hesitance, emitting a low growl when she didn't immediately take the plate. He held it out for Sophie to take. She let out an exhausted sigh, before grabbing the smelly piece of black meat. "I'm not going to enjoy the ride home." Sophie mumbled.

Sophie thought flying in a space ship was cool enough, but being forced to eat that disgusting meat and constantly on the edge of hunger only made the trip miserable. Royce didn't bother touching the meat. Isabelle had taken a bite, but immediately vomited afterwards. Somehow, Sophie was able to stomach the touch meat and keep it all in. "I thought he knew by now that we don't eat raw meat," Isabelle pointed out.

"Or roadkill," Royce added in a deeply, irritated voice.

"It's just three more days," Sophie pointed out, trying to cheer them up and lighten the mood. It only seemed to worsen the mood as those three days of doing nothing but sitting in that dimly lit room was even more miserable. Sophie bared it. This was nothing compared to being hunted relentlessly by the Bad Bloods. It gave her time to think and rest from the years of constant blood and battle. For the first time in a long time, Sophie was able to get a good sleep and relax. They didn't have to fight anymore.

But, Royce was right. The meat did taste like fucking roadkill. It wouldn't be the first time she went a couple of days without much food. Sophie snuggled into her fur blanket and closed her eyes. She would get to see her family again. It didn't take long after to drift off to sleep.

* * *

Guan'thwei was disappointed to see that the oomans had left their guard down. They didn't even hear the loud pop of the air lock as the wall door slid open. The oomans were just that exhausted and wiped out from the time spent on the Game Preserve. He constantly had to remind himself that they weren't built for fighting like he was. It was a constant annoyance that he had to bear. Isabelle and Royce had taken refuge on the platform where one of the Bad Bloods had slept, while Sophie was curled up in a fur blanket at their feet.

Guan'thwei crouched down and observed the sleeping ooman before him. It was the first time he had seen her slumbering so peacefully. She would usually sleep at a couple hours of times, mostly in the trees to avoid the predators from down below. They were weak and pathetic creatures, but he couldn't help but regard this one ooman. She went from a whiny _lou-de kale_ into a true _mar'cte_. Guan'thwei would likely never see her again after this. She would return to her mundane _ooman_ life that would dull her true potential. It was very unlikely she would come across their kind again. But, she did what even the strongest of her kind couldn't do.

She survived.

* * *

 **Translations**

 **pauk - fuck**

 **lou-de kale - a derogatory term for a female. 'child-bearer'**

 **marc'et - hunt**

 **ooman - human (duh)**


	3. Return to Earth

Sheriff Bill Conway sat in his office finishing his last report. He had spent the day patrolling the rural and unincorporated streets of Los Angeles like he always did. Making arrests, pulling people over, writing tickets, and even engaging in the cop stereotype of eating donuts. Conway had been hoping to leave work early when Diana, his secretary, stepped in. "Yes, Dee?" Bill asked.

"Sir, the parole office has identified someone from a missing person's case, they want a follow-up with you." Diana explained.

Bill let out a loud, exaggerated groan. Just when he had been ready to go home. Hopefully this would only take a few hours. The overweight sheriff picked up his brown officer coat. "Alright, tell them I'll be there." He sighed.

Most of the missing person cases that Bill had to deal with consisted of teenage runaways who had a troubled life or were self-indulgent brats. Sometimes he had to deal with the heartbreaking cases of children being kidnapped, occasionally by their own parents in a nasty custody battle. He had been in shootouts against gang violence, he had seen dead bodies with pools of blood by their brain. All of them were horrific situations he dealt with on a regular basis. But he did it for the good of the people. Bill thought he had seen it all when he had been informed it was the missing case of Sophie Pace.

He had heard about it on television networks when it first happened. It gained widespread news coverage. The eighteen-something year old had been abducted in front of a mall in Washington. That wouldn't have been anything special if it weren't for the way she was abducted. It gave conspiracy theorists some of the best evidence for alien life that they had gotten in years. Though most people, like himself, didn't believe in extraterrestrial life.

But in just a few moments, Bill would be able to find out from Sophie Pace herself.

* * *

The parole officer left just as the sheriff entered. He was a slightly overweight man in his late fifties or so. He held out his hand to Sophie to shake, which she promptly did. "Hello miss, my name is Sheriff William Conway, you can call me 'Bill' if you like," Bill replied, taking a seat at the parole officer's desk, opposite from Sophie.

The case file was spread out on the table. Sophie was unnerved by seeing the photos of her being abducted by Kvar'thwei. The Bad Blood didn't even care to make himself known to the oomans. He wanted them to fear him, Guan'thwei told her that. The incriminating evidence of an an alien abduction was right in front of the Sheriff. Bill looked at the high school photo of Sophie and then glanced up at the woman in front of him. The girl in the photo looked to have a fake smile on her face, like she was trying too hard. It wasn't natural. That was common in most photos. The woman before him looked a couple of years older, wearing a sleeveless shirt and a bland pair of pants that were too big for her. Though she was notably barefoot. She looked too fit and healthy to be a drug addict or to be living on the streets.

"Alright, we'll you've provided us with your basic information. Family, school, health, personal etc.," Bill explained, before looking up at the woman. "Sorry about the physical examination, Sophie Pace had multiple scars across her body from a previous physical altercation, we just had to make sure you were her. With everything you've provided; the FBI will get in contact with your parents."

Sophie said nothing but stared directly at Bill. _'Not even a thank you,'_ Bill noted, though he backtracked on his thoughts. _'She's been gone for six years, who knows what hell she's been through'_.

From his observations, the woman looked quite tired and worn out. Not physically, but more of mentally, which was to be expected after being abducted and missing for years. Bill noticed that she was quite fit from her toned arms and legs, which also bared numerous scars from what looked like multiple lacerations and burns. While the scars from her physical description on file matched, Sophie Pace had gained more during her captivity. The Sheriff could only wonder how she could be this fit if she was kidnapped, maybe her kidnapper allowed her to work out?

"Are we going to do a DNA test?" Sophie asked in a monotone voice.

"When the FBI gets in contact with the Pace family, we will," Bill responded. "We need to make sure this isn't a hoax or that you aren't some mentally unstable person claiming to be Sophie."

Sophie didn't look at him, hiding behind a curtain of matted brown hair. "Sophie Pace is dead."

That confused the Sheriff, who took it literally as Sophie being dead. Though that was unlikely as they were certain this woman was Sophie Pace. Sheriff Bill Conway was disappointed to have not gotten many answers from Sophie Pace over her strange disappearance. She was more interested in seeing her family, which was a strong and understandable point on her part. But, Bill did have to take note of her being unwilling to cooperate and becoming easily agitated over her strange abduction on camera.

Sophie spent the rest of the day inside of the office. Bill tried to make small talk with her, but could tell that the woman was getting aggravated by him droning on. He let her watch the TV that was in the office, leading Sophie to wonder why they even had a TV in a parole office. But she had no interest in that, only in seeing her family. What did they look like, what would they think of her, how in the hell was she going to explain this to them, about Royce and Isabelle, she promised Guan to keep it a secret…

There was a knock on the glass door.

When Sophie looked behind, she saw a middle-aged couple standing outside the office with the secretary. Sophie held her breath as she immediately recognized them. Jeff and Irene Pace. They looked a lot older than she remembered them, which Sophie expected. Their faces were a little more wrinkled, with more grey in their hair. Sophie could see that they were just as worn out from the years of not knowing what happened to their daughter. She knew it ate away at them.

She saw her mother's dull blue eyes light up upon seeing her. Her wrinkled hand covered her mouth as tears formed in her eyes. Sophie wondered if she was going to faint. Jeff had to hold Irene up when entering the office. They ran into her arms and hugged the life out of Sophie. Both of her parents in tears and telling her how much they missed her. Sophie could feel herself choking up, wondering if this was real or some illusion. "You have no idea—how hard I fought—to get here—" Sophie stammered through tears. They didn't know the true undertones of what Sophie had meant, but they understood enough.

Irene sniffled once, holding Sophie's face in her delicate hands. "I'll never let you out of my sight again."

As if she could protect herself and her daughter from what lay beyond the stars.

Six years on the Game Preserve suddenly felt like nothing while waiting in that police station. Sophie wanted nothing more than to return home. Her parents and Sheriff Bill Conway gave a statement to the always intrusive media and press. She wanted to see how much her little brother Jacob had grown. He had been an annoying little six-year-old the last time she had seen him. Now, Jake would be twelve years old. Her parents had aged, perhaps a little more than usual, due to the stress of losing their daughter. Sophie wondered what effect it had on her brother.

After conducting an interview over her abduction with the police and FBI, Sophie was allowed to return home with her parents. Although she was going to have to work alongside them in their meaningless investigation.

That was going to be a pain.

* * *

Sophie sat in the backseat of the car resting against Irene's shoulder, while Jeff drove the twenty-mile car ride back home. It made Sophie feel like a child, after all the years of living like a feral huntress on a foreign planet. The feeling of having a family almost felt foreign to her. Sophie couldn't understand why.

Every once and awhile Jeff would look back in the rear view and glance at them. "How are my lovely ladies doin'?" he asked, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Good," Sophie and Irene said together in unison.

The ride home was quiet and uneventful, the first Sophie had felt in a long time. She didn't know how to feel about it after all the years of killing and violence. It also ate away at her that her parents would never truly know what she did to come home. Sophie swallowed once when Jeff turned down the road where it all began. _'I shouldn't have survived, but I did,'_ Sophie reminisced while glancing up at the streetlights. _'Haven't been here since it happened.'_

Sophie nearly spat out her water she saw _fucking_ Royce and Isabelle standing at the end of the road, pretending to be innocent civilians just going for a walk. Royce had a big smile on his face and waved at Sophie, while Isabelle shook her head and stood there with crossed arms. They did this to annoy her, on her second day back on Earth. Sophie wanted to attack Royce for that, but couldn't do much when they faded from view as their car pulled into the driveway.

After stepping out of the car, she looked back at the bush they had been standing by to see that they were gone. Sophie pushed the thoughts of Royce and Isabelle out of her head. She was going to see her brother. Sophie took in everything while stepping inside the house. The living room had been remodeled, but saw that there were pictures of Sophie all over the buffet. There were also at least a dozen bouquets of flowers of every type and flower across the house. Sophie was immediately aware of the shuffling and muffled voices from upstairs. The sound of a young boy and an elderly woman.

"Those are from me," came the familiar voice of her grandmother, Maurene. She was still tall and relatively healthy looking as Sophie last remembered her to be. The same short, curly white hair, the same red glasses, wrinkled face and wide brown eyes. Maurene gave her granddaughter a heartfelt smile and hug. She wiped away the tears from under her glasses. "Welcome home." She said.

"I missed you too, Grams," Sophie stated, withdrawing from the hug. "Is Gramps here?"

She gave a sad smile and shook her head, before looking at the wooden floor. "No, he is with Jesus now."

Sophie let out a disappointed sigh, holding back her anger. "I never got to say goodbye," she nearly whispered.

"I know dear," Maurene answered. "But, now he knows the truth and is in heaven, watching over you. I thought I had lost the both of you, but we only lost one. It's a miracle."

 _'It wasn't a miracle,'_ Sophie thought. _'It was blood and hard work that got me back here. Not some God that may or may not exist.'_

But she kept those thoughts to herself. Her grandfather's death wasn't as big of a loss as it could've been for Sophie, given that Grandpa Richard had been old with medical problems. It was to be expected. But she was still nonetheless saddened by his death. The only bad news she had received so far. Her greatest fear aside from not making it off the planet alive was that she would return home to Earth only to find her entire family dead. All Sophie knew was that if her family had died, she would have nothing to live for. They were the reason she was still here today.

"When can I see the rest of the family?" Sophie eagerly asked, snapping towards her parents. Irene held her hands together, but it was Jeff who answered. "They wanted to give you some space before coming over to see you," Jeff said with surprise. "Allow you to adjust and…come to terms with what happened."

"I've had plenty of space where I've been, so little contact," Sophie told them, straightforwardly. "And what has happened is in the past, I want to focus on the future. Is Jacob here?"

They were a little caught off guard by her eagerness, having expected Sophie to be withdrawn like she was in the past. But, Irene and Jeff figured that it wouldn't be strange for their daughter to see the rest of the family either. She didn't appear to be as anxious or scared at all. In fact, it almost seemed like Sophie had become a stronger and more hardened woman from whatever her kidnappers put her through.

"Sophie?" asked the voice of a young boy.

Sophie looked upstairs to see the boy before her that was her brother, Jacob. It felt like she was looking at a completely different person. He had grown so much since she last saw him. Jacob was taller, with overgrown brown hair, wearing red-and-black sweats with a T-shirt featuring a kid's show on it. _'Yep, a typical twelvie,'_ Sophie noted to herself.

Sophie rushed upstairs and grasped her brother into her arms. "I missed you, you little shit."

Jacob said nothing, but hugged his sister. She withdrew from the embrace after a moment. His brown eyes stared up at her. Sophie noticed that Jacob wasn't very talkative or emotional during their reunion. She brushed it off since he had been so young when Kvar'thwei abducted her. Six years old. Sophie wondered if he remembered her.

While sitting at the table and catching up with her family over what they had done since their absence, Sophie saw movement from the back of the room. She instinctively snapped her head towards he direction, grabbing the sharp knife beside her plate.

It was only Royce waving at her through the sliding glass door. Sophie let out a relieved sigh before glowering at the smiling Royce. She was going to make certain that she spat in his bowl of chicken noodle soup before giving it to him.

* * *

When it had become late at night and Sophie still sat at the table with her parents and grandmother, she feigned wanting to go to bed. Sophie felt terrible that she was literally ushering Maurene to go. Jacob had left hours ago to go upstairs and finish his homework. But, her work was not yet done.

"Can I take some food with me upstairs?" Sophie asked her mother. She realized how strange it sounded. She was twenty-four years old and asking for permission to bring food into her room, like she always had to do in the past. "Of course, you don't have to ask, dear," Irene smiled.

Sophie was certain her parents would let her do anything now after what happened. She filled two bowls of chicken noodle soup, placed a couple pieces of garlic bread on the trey, with two water bottles. While they were cleaning up the kitchen, Sophie walked into the bathroom. She shut the door behind her before going to the window and opening it. "Royce! Izzy!" Sophie said in a loud voice, only beneath a shout.

The door to the gardening shed opened, with Royce strolling out with Isabelle in tow. Royce had a rather peeved look on his face. "What took you so long?" he asked, grasping the trey of food from Sophie through the window.

"Oh, my apologies, _Lord Royce,"_ Sophie snorted. "I only have a family that I haven't seen in six years, you know."

Isabelle helped pull Sophie through the small bathroom window. "This smells good, a lot better than the crap they were giving us at the homeless shelter." Isabelle stated while Royce walked around the house towards the deck. Isabelle gave Sophie her torn up backpack, which contained her leather clothing from the Game Preserve. But that wasn't the most important thing she was given.

Sophie pulled out the decorated Combi-stick that had belonged to Hsan'twan, the Predator that saved her life from Kvar'thwei all those years ago before being killed by him. The only memento that Guan'thwei allowed her to keep, even if it could potentially expose his kind. He trusted Sophie to keep it safe and she would. "Thanks for hanging on to these, guys," Sophie nodded, before turning to Royce and shooting him an annoyed glance. "Royce, you should be trying to keep a low profile here."

Royce seated himself on the stairs leading to the deck. "What? Nobody can see us and I ain't eating in that fucking garden shed. We sat in there for hours while you were chatting with your family," Royce said through a mouthful of garlic bread. "And even if they do see us, who cares? Nobody knows who we are. We're in foreign country, no one will recognize me or Isabelle."

Both women let out an exhausted breath, before Sophie collapsed onto the grass and gazed up at the stars. They were so much different from the ones on the Game Preserve. Isabelle sat next to Royce while she ate. "Well, if we get into technicalities, it would be disastrous for you since the both of you are not citizens of the United States."

"Guess that makes us…illegal _aliens,"_ Isabelle grinned, nudging Royce in the shoulder. "Ha ha, get it?"

"Oh, you're so clever, Is," Royce mumbled, then turning his attention onto Sophie. "So, how'd the interview with the police go? Did you stick to the story?"

"Yep, all went well," Sophie replied, ripping out some of the grass.

"Are they suspicious of you?" Royce was in interrogation mode, though he wasn't very professional looking with soup staining his chin. Sophie let out a shrug. "No, I think they believe me for the most part," she assured them. "I feigned amnesia, even after they showed Kvar'thwei's ship snatching me right before my eyes. I even started crying, no joke. Tears and all."

"And the Academy Award goes to the biggest crybaby I know," Royce snorted, drinking some of the chicken broth. "That must've been natural for you."

Sophie shot him a glower before Isabelle spoke. "Did the gang member story work?"

"Sorta, I didn't tell them too much of anything though," Sophie confessed. "Mostly 'I don't know's' or 'I don't remember' and they bought it." She then groaned with aggravation and threw her head back against the grassy backyard. "Though I have to do a psyche eval and do counseling now. Fucking _waste_ of my time!"

That made Royce choke on his soup from laughing. "Just smile and bullshit them and you'll do fine," he advised her. "They're just paid to hear your tragic life story."

Isabelle was more serious with her response. "It's a small price to pay in order to be with your family, Soph. I won't get to see mine ever again."

Sophie felt awful for Izzy. If she turned herself in, Isabelle would likely be arrested for AWOL by the Israeli Defense Force and unable to answer their questions as to where she had been. Isabelle wanted to return to Israel to see her family, but knew that could never be. No one would believe her and it would bring too much attention to the alien abduction. As far as Sophie knew, Royce didn't have a past. He was a mercenary and that was all she knew from him. But it didn't seem to be a complete loss for Isabelle, she had Royce, even if he could be a jackass sometimes.

Royce grinned and nudged the Combi-stick lying on the grass beside Sophie. "Go kick that psychologist's ass, show them what you're made of," he joked, causing Sophie to laugh for the first time in a long time. "The Bad Bloods' are dead and we're back on Earth. We'll be fine."

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but now we're stranded in a foreign country."

"Better than being stranded on a foreign _planet,"_ Royce pointed out, raising his eyebrows and smiling at her.

While the two bantered with each other, Sophie gazed up at the night sky, the stars poking through the darkness surrounding them. Somewhere, past the crescent moon and those stars was Guan'thwei and his kind hunting other species. While she was glad to be home with her family, Sophie realized that she felt homesick. She wouldn't say it to Royce or Isabelle, but she was going to miss Guan'thwei.

"If we can survive the Game Preserve, then we can survive anything on Earth," Royce told Sophie, helping her up to their feet. It was time for them to go to the homeless shelter before it closed for the night. He placed a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "Our troubles are over."

A man adjusted the knobs to the listening and tuned out of the conversation, now that the trio had dispersed for the night. He removed his headphones and typed a report to his superior while sitting in the van parked a street down from the house. Their troubles on the Game Preserve were over, but their troubles on Earth had only begun.


	4. Grin and Bear It

The first week of being home had been the absolute worse. After confirming her identity to the police, Sophie dreaded being taken to the hospital with her parents. She had to deal with the ugly blue hospital gown, an IV, and rotten television while laying in bed doing nothing. The bed felt lumpy and stiff to her. Sophie had grown accustomed to sleeping on leaves and the dirt ground. The bed that she had at home was even worse. It felt like a marshmallow that encased her body, surrounding her. The sensations alarmed her. She was used to those sleepless nights being on lookout for other Yautja or humans that were out to kill her. Guan'thwei was certainly a big help.

Her thoughts drifted to Guan'thwei. She couldn't help but miss the alien. But it was just an alliance to get off the planet. Those days were over.

The doctor returned to the room with Jeff and Irene sitting in the two chairs beside her.

"What's the verdict?" Sophie asked.

He pushed up his square glasses, the doctor being middle aged. "Under the circumstances, your overall health is good." The doctor then checked the blood work records. "Hemoglobin's 10.8—you're anemic, that's why we're giving you iron. Potassium's low—we're giving you an electrolyte solution with your IV. Sodium's over 150, way too high. You may experience swelling in your extremities as you rehydrate and discharge the salt. In spite of your dietary deficiencies there's no sign of mental deterioration."

Sophie tried not to laugh, but couldn't help it.

"What's so funny?" The doctor asked.

"Sorry," Sophie laughed. "Mental deterioration…anyway, why do my joints still ache? I was always running around where I was. I'm in shape aren't I?"

"You are quite physically built. But your joints ache because of vitamin deficiency and protein deficiency. What were you eating?"

Sophie thought back to the Game Preserve. "Mostly meat, my kidnappers didn't have fruit very much where I lived." She answered. Sophie remembered how awful the food tasted here. The chicken and steak tasted bland compared to the hell-hounds and strange fish she ate on the Game Preserve. Her taste buds were still adjusting to Earth as well. Every sense and emotion of her whole self as well.

"Your body chemistry and your exposure to the elements would normally lead to irritability, depression, anxiety, periods of self-reproach. It's almost like schizophrenia. Different sides of your personality might come to life, speak out, act out." The doctor explained.

"That's all behind me. I'm fine now."

Jeff and Irene looked to each other when she said that. They knew that their daughter was far from fine. Every day had been a struggle for Sophie trying to adjust.

"You're in counseling?" The doctor asked.

Sophie looked away, which she did whenever she was unsettled. "Yes."

"How is that going for you?"

"Terribly. I hate it." There was so much animosity in her voice, Jeff and Irene were taken back by how brutally honest their daughter was. They had been taking her to these counseling sessions and Sophie was having a difficult time opening up to them. Especially since she didn't want to talk about what happened. They were certain it would help her.

"Why do you hate it?"

"I don't want to talk about it, I just want to move on."

"From what your parents have told me, you've been having an extremely difficult time adjusting to living at home."

It wasn't just at home, it was civilization itself. Not living in a jungle. But of course, Sophie couldn't say that. She turned back to the doctor with a hard look on her face and eyes, slightly startling him. She looked fierce, she looked like a predator. "I'm not in the jungle. I'm home. I'm alive. I'm glad to be back. I just want out of here. I survived being attacked, so many people have tried to kill me that I've lost count, I lived in a war zone. If I can survive that, I can survive staying at home with a roof over my head and all the food I can eat. I don't need these stupid vitamins or stupid counseling sessions."

The doctor let out a sigh. The girl was too prideful for her own good to go into counseling, course he was taken back by what Sophie had said. She hadn't spoken too much about what actually happened. None of the police or anyone for that matter knew what was going on with Sophie Pace.

That was when Irene intervened, unable to take anymore. "Sophie, please." She begged. "It's for your own good."

"I don't want to." Sophie said in a hard tone.

It was Jeff's turn to argue with her while the doctor stood there awkwardly. Irene let out an exhausted breath. She thought things were going to go back to normal after Sophie returned, now she was dealing with someone who was nothing like the daughter she knew. The Sophie she knew was once kind and sweet, but after the attack became paranoid and withdrawn. Now, this Sophie was the complete opposite. She wasn't afraid of anything, especially speaking her mind, and seemed much more…like a soldier…like she had returned home from a war.

"Would you like it if we spoke alone?" The doctor asked, turning over to Jeff and Irene. Sophie was grateful that he said that.

"Yes, please." Sophie answered.

Irene looked heartbroken, but said nothing as Jeff led her out. Sophie knew her mother was probably outside crying now.

"Your parents are only trying to do what's best for you, they care about you." The doctor stated.

Now, Sophie felt a twinge of guilt for kicking them out. "I know." She muttered, looking at the floor, trying not to cry.

She knew that they only wanted her to get better. Sophie didn't want to hurt them, but there was no way she could tell them the truth. They would send her to the nut house. It was for their own good. Sophie kept telling herself they would get through this eventually.

"Well, you're over twenty-one, we can't force you to go to counseling, though we would highly recommend it," He explained, changing the subject. "The psychologist doesn't believe you suffer from PTSD, but believes you suffer a psychological problem similar to Stockholm syndrome."

"I hate my captors. I killed them," Sophie said bluntly. "I, um, am just having trouble adjusting to this new life is all. If I want any help, I'll come to you."

The doctor didn't seem convinced, but wasn't able to do anything. "Are you still interested in seeing a dentist?"

"Hell yes," Sophie replied with enthusiasm. Tooth pains felt like dying to her. They didn't have toothpaste and toothbrushes on the Game Preserve, so wiping her teeth with water was all she could do. The dentist was the only thing she agreed with her parents and the doctor on.

"I hope you get better, Sophie." The doctor told her before walking out of the room.

Sophie hoped soo too. She walked out of the ward repeatedly apologizing to her mother, who was still sobbing over being kicked out of the room. Every step was an effort.

* * *

Bryson burst into the room, he had changed dramatically from the four years she had been gone. Bryson had chopped his overgrown dirty blond locks and had facial hair, but his brown eyes remained the same. He no doubt looked older, like a college kid slacker. Bryson opened his arms wide and pulled Sophie into a hug. "Sophie! God damn!" he hollered as she struggled in his arms. Hugs still felt foreign to her as well, on the Game Preserve, whenever someone wrapped their arms around her, they were trying to kill her. "God damn. God damn. God damn."

They were both almost overcome with emotions. Bryson then placed a hand on her shoulder and looked at Sophie, noticing the changes in her appearance. She lost the baby fat in her face, her brown hair was chin length and unkempt along with the rest of her appearance. She just wore a sleeveless black shirt and grey sweats with sneakers. The scars were clearly visible, something Bryson always remembered her being ashamed of.

"You're alive, you're fucking alive!" Bryson exclaimed.

Sophie laughed, thrilled to see her best friend. "I beat the odds! I killed 'em!"

She was being literal when she said that she killed them, which escaped Bryson's notice. He merely smiled wide like an idiot, just as he always did. "Christ, they really put you through the grinder, didn't they?"

"Don't worry, I killed them." Sophie reassured him.

Bryson didn't know whether to be disturbed or happy for Sophie, exacting revenge on the people who did this to her. She was so nonchalant about taking a life. Little did he know, how many lives Sophie had taken. Bryson poked at her arm, the slash marks visible from Kvar'thwei's first attack with his wrist blades. "I see you've added new scars to your collection," Bryson noted, poking at a burn scar near her elbow. Then it was silent. Sophie always wore baggy clothing after the attack, ashamed and embarrassed by the scars. Now, here she was wearing laid back clothing and clearly displaying the scars. Almost like she was proud of them.

"Did you make sure they suffered?" Bryson asked with an absolute straight face.

Now, that, made Sophie smile, the first time she truly smile since returned to Earth. The thought of killing Kvar'thwei and his other Bad Blood friends brought her pure pleasure. "Fuck yeah, I did!" she grinned.

Sophie knew her parents would've been so disturbed by that statement, but Bryson was more understanding. Bryson flickered her forehead like he used to. "Good, them fuckers deserved it after what they did to you." He then said, accepting that they deserved to die a painful death.

"They sure did," Sophie nodded. She couldn't have agreed with him anymore on that statement.

"Now that we're both twenty-one, we should get a fucking drink." Bryson swore, wrapping an arm around Sophie and walking around his apartment. Her eyes flickered to the opposite side of the street. There were a couple of paparazzi taking photos of them. She noticed a white van beside them. Another stupid fucking news station, they still wouldn't leave her alone.

His apartment smelled like apple cinnamon and Sophie wrinkled her nose with disgust. She loved the smell of the rainforest and the humid jungle. So many wonderful scents, all of them natural. This one was artificial.

They both sat on the porch drinking a beer. It tasted like piss to Sophie, but she drank it anyway. Bryson noticed her making a face after taking another sip. "Want a Mountain Dew?" he asked.

"Yes, please." She nearly coughed.

Aside from Royce and Isabelle, Bryson was the only true person who could read her, even after not knowing the true story behind her disappearance. Sophie was glad that they weren't out of sync. Ever since she arrived here, Sophie felt like she did when she first arrived on the Game Preserve.

Alone and everything out to get her.

Bryson opened the can of cold Mountain Dew and handed it to her. It had been so long. She had forgotten the citrus taste of the sparkling soda. "Good times, right?" Bryson smiled, sipping his beer. "Want to play some video games?"

"You haven't changed one bit." Sophie sighed.

"I don't play as much as I used to, saving up for college. But, it would be nice to play again wouldn't it?"

Sophie sighed slightly, looking down at her soda. She looked over the small balcony of his apartment into the California suburb. "These past four years…I feel like I've been living in a video game. One of those violent, bloody PvP ones. No joke. I was always killing, hunting and trying to stay alive."

Bryson lowered his beer. Sophie hadn't told him what had happened yet. All he had known was that his best friend disappeared, and she stated through a family statement that she had been kidnapped. "I didn't want to ask you since it's too soon, but…if you want to talk…I'm here." Bryson said softly.

Sophie thought long and hard. "Beats talking to some stranger about it."

"But, they could help you."

"They couldn't because I can never tell them the truth. I would be receiving counseling over a lie that I made up. I wouldn't be counseled over the truth, over the conflict."

"You lied to them?" Bryson inquired. "About what?"

"About being kidnapped by gang members," Sophie sighed, finally relieved to have said that aloud. To someone else from her past other than Isabelle and Royce. "None of that is true."

"The story you told the police and press? None of that is true?"

"Yep."

"Then, what really happened? Why did you lie about it?" Bryson was confused by this. He knew his friend had changed since the attack all those years ago. But this was something else entirely. Or was it? Sophie always seemed to be hiding something.

Sophie snickered, taking a big gulp of Mountain Dew. This was where it cut off. That was the only truth she could reveal to her old friend. She examined the aluminum can of the green can, pretending to be fascinated by it. Sophie wondered if she could trust Bryson with the truth, if he would actually believe her. It was on the tip of her lips. She wanted to tell someone so bad it tore her apart on the insides.

"Maybe someday I'll tell you the truth," Sophie answered. "But, on that day, if it ever comes, we're going to need alcohol. _Lots_ of alcohol."

* * *

Sophie woke up on the floor, tangled in her blankets. The carpet felt good to her. The bristles reminded her of the pine needles and leaves she'd sleep on at the Game Preserve. Just underneath her bed was the Combi-Stick that Guan'thwei had given her, as well . She didn't no what to do with it now that it was hers. There was no way she could go out in public with it. She reached out and tapped the metal that was decorated with bones, leather string and Yautja symbols.

Sophie could hear footsteps on the outside of her roof. Two of them. She knew it was Royce and Isabelle, but Sophie nonetheless grabbed the Combi-Stick. She was always aware of her surroundings.

Her bedroom window door slid open and in came Royce and Isabelle. They both frowned at her laying on the carpet with only a small blanket. "You can knock you know," Sophie told them.

"Don't want to draw attention," Royce simply stated.

 _'Typical Royce,'_ Sophie rolled her eyes. "You're drawing attention by climbing through my window, you ape."

Royce ignored her comment and collapsed on her bed, scooting over for Isabelle to sit, before making himself comfortable. Royce was dirty and looked like a homeless man. Irene was going to be furious once she found out how dirty her bed was. Sophie was more worried about that than the possibility of fighting another Predator.

Royce let out a sigh of relief. "This bed feels nice, why not lay in it?"

"It feels weird," Sophie wrinkled her nose.

Isabelle sent her a look of sympathy. The girl was still having trouble adjusting.

Royce merely snickered at her comment, closing his eyes. "Not me, I hated sleepin' on the fuckin' ground, on the dirt. Never once relaxing or comfortable."

It was awkwardly silent for a few moments before Isabelle decided to speak up. She hated having to ask, but Sophie had promised them. "Um, do you have it?" Isabelle quietly asked.

Sophie rolled over towards her desk and pulled open a drawer. She tossed them a paper bag, to which, Royce immediately sat up and snatched the paper bag. He pulled out a roll of hundred-dollar bills, held together by rubber bands. There were several in there. "How much?" Royce inquired. "Two-thousand?"

"Three-thousand." Sophie immediately answered. "That should keep the lights on for a while."

"An extra thousand? Aw, aren't you a sweet thing?" Royce teased Sophie before handing his partner the bag. She sat up and grabbed a backpack, tossing it to Israeli woman. Isabelle looked at Sophie with confusion. "Has some of my clothing, it should fit you considering I'm taller than you," Sophie said. "And some other supplies for your journey to…where ever you're going."

Royce and Isabelle had been debating over what to do next since returning to Earth. Isabelle wanted to live a quiet, normal life while Royce wanted to return to be the elite mercenary that he was before. They both loved each other but their different lifestyles could possibly tear them apart.

"You sure you want to do this?" Isabelle asked Sophie, not wanting her to get in trouble for stealing from her parents.

"I'm positive," Sophie replied. "My parents are loaded, and I want you to be able to start a new life."

"They're going to be so pissed with you." Isabelle reasoned.

Sophie snickered. "I've been through worse than getting yelled at haven't I?"

"Sophie could get away with murder and her parents still wouldn't get mad at her," Royce added. "They still feel sorry for poor, poor victim Sophie."

Sophie threw a pillow at Royce for that. Isabelle rolled her eyes and just accepted the money, she knew it was right. She had changed the most out of all of them, grown the most too as Sophie was the youngest. Though the past couple of weeks, Isabelle noticed that is was Sophie who was struggling the most to the return to civilization.

"You doing alright, Soph?" Isabelle then asked.

"I grin and bear it." Sophie's answer was short.

Isabelle frowned and narrowed her dark eyes. "I'm being serious, Sophie. Don't give me a bullshit answer."

Although Sophie detested talking about it, what choice did she have? Especially in the first few weeks of being home. Isabelle waited for an answer while Royce pretended not to care. "I hated being alone. Couldn't stand it. I was paranoid after the attack," Sophie let out. "Now, all I want is to be left alone. No one back here understands that. I can't relax, I can't sleep, I have to be busy and do something. I'm just sitting around doing nothing."

Royce studied her for a moment. "You miss it don't you? The Game Preserve."

She frowned at him, before glancing underneath the bed at the Combi-Stick once more.

"Yes." Sophie reluctantly admitted.

* * *

 **Author's note: I apologize for the long wait, overwhelmed by school and work. Plus I was kinda unsure of how to go about my ideas for this story. Sorry if they're just talking, but I don't want to end up like Michael Bay x'D Need some character interaction. Reviews would be nice! Hope you enjoyed it!**


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